Vegan Beetroot Veggie Burgers with Dill Sauce

I have been craving a veggie burger for weeks and while my go to veggie burger is basically just a bigger version of my baked falafel balls, I wanted to try something a bit different. I scoured the internet for days and couldn’t decide on anything, so I decided to just make my own. I added quinoa which had been cooked in vegetable stock for flavour, and some roughly mashed chickpeas for added protein and texture. I also used smokey paprika and cumin with some fresh coriander to liven things up a bit.

While the burger patties are good on their own, it was the addition of the dill sauce that took them over the edge. I was craving something really fresh so I made my burger in a lettuce cup, but if you want a real bread-y burger this would work just as well in a gluten free bun. I assembled mine for the photos and decided to take a bite mid-photo shoot and I was hooked. I ended up eating two sitting on the floor next to my props.. very ladylike indeed.

I kept the patties totally vegan but had some greek yoghurt in the fridge that needed using so I simply combined that with some garlic and a lot of dill for the sauce. If you want a vegan version hop on over to the Minimalist Baker for their garlic herb recipe which is made with tahini (or hummus).You can top these with whatever you please. I stuck with my old favourite including sliced tomatoes, avocado with a squeeze of lime and grated carrot. Hummus would work a treat, and if you cut back on the paprika and cumin I think feta cheese would be delicious either inside the patties or mixed with some avocado and added to the burger.

Preheat oven to 170ºC and line a flat baking tray if you would prefer to bake instead of fry (my chosen method is baking but note you will still have to remove them from the oven and flip them once. I prefer baking as I find it less hands on and there is less chance of breaking the patties).

Rinse and boil your quinoa in vegetable stock until cooked.

Wash your beetroots and remove any hairy bits (peel if necessary), then using a box grater or the fine grating attachment on your food processor, grate the beetroot.

Rinse and mash the chickpeas. You want most of it completely mashed but leave about a quarter of the chickpeas still in chunks for good texture.

Finely chop your onion and crush the garlic. I fried mine off for a few minutes for better flavour but if you are lacking time you can skip this step.

Combine the cooked quinoa, grated beetroot, mashed chickpeas, onion, garlic, flaxseed meal, paprika, cumin and coriander in a large bowl and stir to combine. Feel free to get in there with your hands at this point as it is so much easier.

Season with a good amount of salt and pepper, then, taking about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup portions, roll the mixture into balls and then flatten into patties.

At this point you can either toss them into your fry pan with a little coconut oil and fry them in batches, or, my preferred method, place them on a baking tray and cook for approximately 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, flip each burger and return to oven for a further 15 minutes.

For the dill sauce, combine yoghurt, dill and garlic and a bowl and stir.

Reblogged this on Life of a pickled herring and commented:
Welly and I we’re talking about having one day a week where we eat no meat or fish to be kinder to nature and help sustainability in this world of overfishing, overbreeding and general mishandling of animals.

In essence we want to be a bit more food smart. Therefore I’ve been doing some research on the matter as I want to make sure we still get protein and all the nutrition packed in our meals.

I stumbled upon this blog and found this lovely vegan burger that packs a punch in all directions – I can’t wait to try it 🙂